Sporangium with rhizoid system growing in broth culture (X 160). Photo Contributed by Don Barr

This genome was sequenced by the Broad Institute.

Description of Spizellomyces punctatus has been quoted from Broad.

S. punctatus is the type species of the fungal genus Spizellomyces, which is in the phylum Chytridiomycota (chytrids). Like all chytrids, Spizellomyces produces uniflagellated zoospores during its reproductive cycle, but in contrast to other zoosporic fungi (e.g. Allomyces), spizellomycetalean zoospores can be amoeboid while actively swimming, and the flagellar insertion site may move to a lateral position.

Spizellomyces species are exclusively terrestrial. They are common in soil and of importance in terrestrial ecosystems - with both beneficial and detrimental impacts - found in association with a range of mycorrhizal fungi, mildew, plants and soil nematodes. In biochemical research, S. punctatus has gained attention because of the presence of mitochondrial 5' tRNA editing, a form of post-transcriptional RNA processing previously only known from the unrelated amoeboid protist Acanthamoeba castellanii. The RNA editing activities of both Acanthamoeba and Spizellomyces have been partially purified, biochemically characterized, and compared.